Pages

Monday, March 12, 2018

The Others...Tampa

It’s been since 1999 and the wait came to an end when Monster Energy Supercross made its return to Tampa, Florida for Round 8 of the championship fight. Life’s a beach and the sand was inside Raymond James Stadium.

Photo: Kyle Pesci

The sand section just before the finish line was gnarly. It looked to have a hard base, but it never got there. It was deep, long and changed by the second. It was a section to show that even the sports elite are human. A lap with a great run through the sand would be followed up by one that was pure struggle. I think every rider either crashed or came to a complete stop at some point of the day in that section. That being said, privateer Ramyller Alves may have been the fastest through the sand this week. He also may have been laying in the sand more than anyone.

Even with the sand, qualifying times were quick. Star Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis clicked off a 49.402 to top the 250 class. The only rider to dip in to the 48 second range was Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac. His 48.916 was the best of the 450 class.

JGR Suzuki moved the defending 250 West Champion, Justin Hill up to the 450 class this week and a Heat 1 win would show he means buisness no matter the bike size. Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson took the W in Heat 2. Anderson’s teammate, Zach Osborne would take 250 Heat 1 and fellow class veteran, Martin Davalos took Heat 2.

Chad Reed was the talk of the night as he went for a record breaking 228 career Main Event starts in the premier class. He’d have to go through the LCQ to get there but 228 would happen in Tampa with the LCQ win. Reed is about as privateer as he’s ever been and it was pretty damn cool to hear the crowd as he took the LCQ win. It’s amazing how many haters the 22 has seemed to have this season. Didn’t seem like anyone was disappointed tonight!

For the first time in his career, Austin Forkner would take the checkers in a 250 Main Event. Dylan Ferrandis joined the podium in 2nd with the champ, Zach Osborne in 3rd. In the 450 class Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin put on a battle for the win. Tomac lead early but would then chase the 25 of Musquin for nearly 14 laps before making a pass stick for the win. Jason Anderson worked from a start outside the top 5 to the final podium spot.

Luke Renzland has been impressive. The Traders Racing number 38 would get a good jump out of the gate and hold his ground for the 20 lap Main Event. He’d cross the line 7th. This makes it 2 for 2 on the season with top 10 finishes.

Rider: Luke Renzland | Photo: Kyle Pesci

Honda’s Cole Seely went down hard in his Heat Race. A quad though the rhythm section just before the sand could make up a ton of time. It could also bite you without warning. A red flag came out for the #14. Something we never want to see and something that a guy like Cole sure as hell doesn’t deserve. Get well soon CS⚡️14.

And now...The Others

250

114 Brandon Hartranft

96 Zack Williams

725 Richard Jackson

570 Cody VanBuskirk

214 Vann Martin

61 Heath Harrison

85 Josh Cartwright

986 Lane Shaw

82 Cody Williams

471 Logan Karnow

228 Donny Brown

171 Yannis Irsuti

172 Tanner Basso

179 Westen Wrozyna

222 Ramyller Alves

261 Wilson Fleming

581 Kyle Bitterman

309 Jeremy Smith

450

201 Cedric Soubeyras

722 Adam Enticknap

211 Tevin Tapia

86 Dylan Merriam

447 Deven Raper

48 Henry Miller

80 AJ Catanzaro

78 Ronnie Stewart

383 Casey Brennan

84 Scott Champion

708 Joe Perron

509 Alex Nagy

90 Dakota Tedder

805 Carlen Gardner

282 Bubba Pauli

71 Josh Mosiman

240 Bryce Stewart

14 Cole Seely

On to Hot-Lanta!

-Kyle Pesci

Race Tech is more than just suspension and #PrivateerProven. Click the banner to learn more.

Post a Comment

Race Tech

Spectro Oils

Suter Clutch

FXR Moto

Leatt

Dedicated Ride Co.

Fixate Designs

Magic Racing

Rockwell Time

Gamer Optics

Quick Info

Moto has been my life since I was about 5 years old. I've been working in the retail end of MX for about 15 years now and have been lucky enough to work for MxRider Magazine as well as work on projects with Nitro Circus, Nuclear Cowboyz, AMA, FELD, MX Sports and more. Brother of a privateer.